STEPHEN RICHARDS | Special to MuskokaTODAY.com FICTION A man and a woman sit facing, knee to knee, in a dim lit room. Each holds a glass of Johnston’s Cranberry Splash Spritzer. The vintage Ronco vinyl phonograph plays “What a Wonderful World” and it’s skipping on the song’s title. The two are engrossed in conversation. Moonlight […]
TARA COLLUM | Contributing columnist The MP for Parry Sound-Muskoka recently spoke out about the labour shortage and seemed to make a link between local franchises like Tim Hortons being unable to attract workers and the government’s pandemic benefits. Scott Aitchison, the Conservative’s labour critic, doesn’t seem to believe Canadians can be trusted to receive […]
MUSKOKA — Environment Canada has forecasted extreme cold conditions for Muskoka, as wind chill values near -35° C are expected tonight and early Saturday morning. Decreasing temperatures can put everyone at risk for cold-related illness or injury, such as frostbite and hypothermia. The health unit says risks are greatest for those who are marginally housed […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — COVID cases are up again in Muskoka and Simcoe today. The health unit reports that 41 of the 524 regional cases are in Muskoka. Including an outbreak among 5 residents at the Gravenhurst Manor on its main street. Yesterday the district and region were reported to have had 480 […]
HUNSTVILLE — A COVID patient outbreak in the south wing of the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital has been reported. Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) said last night that four patients tested positive for COVID-19 and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has placed the wing under “unit-specific COVID-19 outbreak status.” MAHC says in its release Thursday, […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — COVID cases climbed back close to 500 today — including 27 in Muskoka. Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reports 480 people testing positive in its daily update. That after reporting 362 region-wide yesterday. And another death in Simcoe. Provincially numbers rose to 13,330 from 11,582. There were 20 […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Omicron may not be as severe as the Delta wave, but its sheer numbers threaten to overwhelm the health care system. So says Dr. Charles Gardner while adding that 98 per cent of cases last week were Omicron. He said “you can’t rely on vaccines,” which given people false […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — An outbreak at Muskoka Shores retirement and LTC home in Gravenhurst — with 52 residents and 14 staff — is part of a four-day New Year’s weekend total of 179 Muskoka cases being reported by the health unit Tuesday. They are among 2,067 cases since last Friday’s Dec. 31 […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Ontario is back on hold for three weeks. With no end to Omicron, the province said today it’s returning to the modified version of Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen effective tomorrow, Jan. 5. The changes in gatherings and workplace limitations will last at least 21 days (until […]
STEPHEN RICHARDS, Special to MuskokaTODAY Bourbon Street Jazz Club, 180 Queen St. West, Toronto, October 1975: George’s Italian Café on the main floor is closed today. The Basin Street Club is on the second floor and Salome Bey’s ‘Indigo’ set has been prepped for performances. Bourbon Street Jazz Club is on the first floor of […]
BRACEBRIDGE — An early New Year’s stabbing has one Bracebridge man in hospital and another charged in his stabbing yesterday. Police say that at 4:40 a.m., Jan. 1, the OPP and Muskoka EMS responded to a report of a stabbing at an address on Manitoba Street in Bracebridge. They say a 27-year-old Bracebridge man was […]
TARA COLLUM | Contributing columnist It’s time to put Auld Lang Syne on the Victrola, it’s the start of another new year. Does it feel to anyone else like it’s been 2020 for about two years now? Some sayings don’t truly hit home without lived life experience, like we never know what the future brings, […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — Five staff at The Pines LTC have tested positive for COVID-19, and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has placed the home under outbreak status. They say all staff who tested positive are symptomatic and are isolating at home. The Pines staff is working with the health unit and […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Another day, another year, another “record.” As the calendar turns on a second devastating year, it’s not the end of the pandemic predicted. Or anywhere near it with Omicron setting daily records. How bad was 2021? The health unit reported 715 cases today — including 50 Muskoka. Last year […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — With soaring Omicron cases threatening Muskoka hospitals, a COVID outbreak at South Muskoka Memorial Hospital (SMMH) has the health unit placing it in outbreak status and two impacted staff are in quarantine. That’s in addition to four other staff. There were 60 new COVID cases in Muskoka today, reports […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — With school’s return delayed two days next week, Simcoe-Muskoka is dealing with 637 COVID cases today, says the health unit. Public Health Ontario makes it 441 cases. Included in those are 60 cases in Muskoka, with more than half of them — 31 — in Huntsville, says the Simcoe-Muskoka […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — With 73 Muskoka COVID cases since Friday, the health unit says the self-isolation period starts when the person’s symptoms began or the day they were tested, whichever is earlier. And workers can return to the workplace after their self-isolation period if they have no fever and their symptoms have […]
BRACEBRIDGE — A disturbance call last night at a north end main street motel led a police to shoot and kill one dog and taser another “due to concerns for officer safety.” The OPP say that at 9 p.m., Dec. 28, officers responded to reports of a disturbance and mischief at the motel at the […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Christmas Eve was muted much as last. Some church congregations gathered in limited numbers with services pale by past years’ celebrations — perhaps more meaningful and prayerful given COVID’s long two years. And to them still hopeful that Omicron won’t prove to be as deadly and sickly and stressful […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — On the eve of what’s meant to bring hope, this year’s new beginning is more like the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Simcoe-Muskoka hit another record at 298 cases today and Ontario nearing 10,000. Muskoka’s share is 18 cases Friday — ending the week at more than […]